Todd Payten says his back three had a “costly night” as the Cowboys’ season ended with a disappointing loss to Cronulla.
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The Cowboys’ kick diffusal was awful against the Sharks, which invited the home side to enjoy many more attacking opportunities in the 26-16 win.
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In his final game for the club, Drinkwater struggled under the high ball. He made four errors in a night to forget.
Payten believes the Cowboys were their own worse enemy against the Sharks.
“Costly night (for the back three), yep,” Payten said.
“We were outplayed but we certainly hurt ourselves. In big games you need to defuse kicks and be clean out of your own end but we didn’t do those two things.”
Cowboys skipper Tom Dearden struck a forlorn figure next to Payten post-match when he outlined what his side did wrong.
2025’s Wally Lewis Medal winner says the mixed bag the Cowboys served up on Saturday night was indicative of their campaign this season.
Sharks send Cowboys home in week 1 | 03:14
”We made a lot of errors and put ourselves under pressure,” Dearden said.
“I thought we were we’re feeling quite confident defensively. I thought we were turning them away and we were gritty when we had to defend our line, but when we felt like we just got over the line, we then made another error or gave away another penalty away that would put us back under pressure. I think that’s the most disappointing one.
“It feels like we sort of beat ourselves but it’s also been kind of the story of our year a bit too.
“We’ve been up and down, and I think when you’re like that, it’s hard to just flip a switch when you get to the big games during finals time.”
The Cowboys endured their trials and tribulations this season, but it’s hard to imagine the club’s doesn’t consider 2026 an underwhelming campaign.
Payten was clearly disappointed when giving a snap post-mortem wanted to acknowledge the “challenges”